Vietnam's exports rose 8.9 percent during the first four months of this year from the same period last year to $20.16 billion, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Exports of steel products surged 195.3 percent during the January-April period from a year ago to $301 million while crude oil exports dropped 9.2 percent to $1.79 billion, the Vietnam Economic Times newspaper cited government statistics as saying.

The report said overall exports in April reached an estimated $5.7 billion, a rise of 33 percent from the same month last year.

It gave no details on the country's imports. The government is expected to release full trade data later this week.

In a separate report, the newspaper quoted the Agriculture Ministry data as showing January-April rice exports dropped 13.8 percent from a year earlier to 2.14 million tons.